The two sides met a couple weeks ago down in Seogwipo, with the islanders coming away with a resounding 3-0 win. Will we see a repeat on Saturday? Probably not, as the match will be in Pohang (where the Steelers won 3-0 earlier this season). A tight, and important match in the battle for 3rd place. Expect Pohang to eek this one.

Ulsan made the top half by the skin of their teeth, thus avoiding a rather embarrassing drop of going from being a minute away from the title last season to being amongst the relegation clubs this season. This match could be exciting or quite boring I think. Both teams are capable of scoring, but how motivated will they be? Ulsan’s chances of making the AFC Champions League are slim – needing to make up an 8 point gap to 3rd place while hoping three other teams (Pohang, Jeju, Seoul) all drop a significant amount of points. Suwon similarly has only a slim chance of catching Jeonbuk for the title, and have a comfortable 8 point lead over the fourth placed clubs. I think Suwon will look to consolidate second, and will play a bit more conservatively. Ulsan, shorn of Kim Shin-wook’s attacking talents will struggle to break through.

Should Jeonbuk win this one and Suwon lose to Ulsan, Jeonbuk will claim the K League title. I think though that their title celebrations will be on hold for at least another week. Jeonbuk will be without club talisman Lee Dong-gook after he suffered an injury last week against Suwon. Kaio has proven to be a decent player, but he doesn’t seem to offer as much as the Korean. Seoul’s focus seems to have shifted to the KFA Cup, but they should offer enough to derail Jeonbuk for this weekend.

On paper this should be a fairly comfortable win for Jeonnam, but the Jeolla team is in terrible form, winless in their last six outings (3 draws, 3 losses). Among those results was a 1-0 loss to Seongnam up at Tancheon. Jeonnam has little to fear in terms of relegation. A point from their five games would likely be enough to guarantee them safety (two points would definitely do it). So, I wonder a bit about their motivation levels. Seongnam on the other hand should be plenty motivated, just goal difference above Gyeongnam for the playoff spot. And Seongnam have been in better form as of late, so they could spring an upset, but I think Jeonnam will probably see this one through.

Predicted result: Jeonnam 2-1 Seongnam
TV: None
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Sangju vs Busan

Two teams that have largely going in different directions, at least in terms of form. Busan hasn’t lost in their last six (3 wins, 3 draws) while Sangju has lost seven of their last 10 matches in the league. Sangju does though have a superior record against Busan this season, having won the earlier match in Sangju and drawn Busan twice in Busan. Busan’s away form has been pretty poor overall, but a decent showing away to Seoul last weekend should give some hope that Korea’s second largest city will still have a top flight team next season.

Gyeongnam is a slightly puzzling team right now for me. Sometimes they put in these really resilient performances against teams much better than them, and then they fall to pieces against teams they can beat. Incheon falls somewhere in between, and that makes this one hard to predict. Incheon isn’t safe from relegation as they are six points clear of their opponents, but at the same time it’s hard to see them really falling back into the mix. On paper this should be an Incheon win, but part of me wants to say it’ll be a draw.

Should Daejeon gain a point and Ansan lose, or should Daejeon win their match, Daejeon will be crowned champions and gain automatic promotion to the K League Classic *should Daejeon and Ansan both win, Ansan would mathematically be able to reach Daejeon’s point total, but Daejeon’s vastly superior goal difference would virtually assure them of the title*

Should Gangwon gain any points and Suwon FC drop points, Suwon FC would be eliminated from playoff contention

Should Gangwon win and Daegu fail to win, Daegu would be eliminated from playoff contention

6 Comments

I assume we’re talking about players who have yet to debut for the NT already? If so, there’s not many. Maybe Lee Jae-sung (Jeonbuk, played at AG). Kang Su-il (Pohang on loan from Jeju) is an interesting player as he’s very leggy and could be a different sort of wide player than what the squad currently has (but at 27? I’m not sure if he has any future with NT). The problem is that most of the more promising K League players play in positions Korea has talent in, mainly wide attackers. Players like Lee Jong-ho (Jeonnam), Moon Sang-yoon (Incheon), and such. I suppose you could make a case for Daejeon’s high profile boys in Seo Myeong-won and Lim Chang-woo (on loan from Ulsan).

Sadly, Daejeon will not clinch even with a 15236-0 win this weekend. Ansan still has that game in hand with Anyang. If Daejeon win and Ansan lose, then Daejeon logically wins. A Daejeon loss and Ansan win, + an Ansan win midweek = to the wire finish.

Adriano, Daejeon’s top striker, and the K-League Challenge top scorer, is suspended for this game and the next for an ‘incident’ that occured a couple of weeks ago.

Eh? Am I missing something? Daejeon has played 33 matches and is on 63 points. Ansan has played 32 matches and is on 54 points. A Daejeon win puts them on 66 points. Ansan loses, they still have 54 points with three matches to go meaning they can max out at 63 points.

K League Classic

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

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Team

P

1

Jeonbuk Motors

77

2

Gyeongnam

58

3

Ulsan

56

4

Suwon Bluewings

49

5

Pohang Steelers

47

6

Jeju United

44

7

Gangwon

39

8

Daegu

39

9

Seoul

35

10

Sangju Sangmu

33

11

Jeonnam Dragons

32

12

Incheon United

30

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

November 11, 2018

Seoul

3 - 2

Jeonnam Dragons

Daegu

0 - 0

Sangju Sangmu

November 10, 2018

Gyeongnam

1 - 2

Pohang Steelers

Jeju United

0 - 0

Jeonbuk Motors

Suwon Bluewings

3 - 3

Ulsan

Gangwon

2 - 3

Incheon United

English Premier League

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

#

Team

P

1

Manchester City

32

2

Liverpool

30

3

Chelsea

28

4

Tottenham Hotspur

27

5

Arsenal

24

6

AFC Bournemouth

20

7

Watford

20

8

Manchester United

20

9

Everton

19

10

Leicester City

17

11

Wolverhampton Wanderers

16

12

Brighton & Hov…

14

13

West Ham United

12

14

Newcastle United

9

15

Burnley

9

16

Crystal Palace

8

17

Southampton

8

18

Cardiff City

8

19

Huddersfield Town

7

20

Fulham

5

Hwang Heechan

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

#

Team

P

1

Red Bull Salzburg

38

Bundesliga

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

#

Team

P

1

Borussia Dortmund

27

2

Borussia Mönchengladbach

23

3

RB Leipzig

22

4

Eintracht Frankfurt

20

5

Bayern München

20

6

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

19

7

Werder Bremen

17

8

Hertha BSC

16

9

1. FSV Mainz 05

15

10

Augsburg 1907

13

11

SC Freiburg

13

12

Wolfsburg

12

13

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

11

14

Schalke 04

10

15

Nürnberg

10

16

Hannover 96

9

17

Fortuna Düsseldorf

8

18

Stuttgart

8

Kwon Changhoon

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

#

Team

P

18

Dijon

11

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The Tavern of the Taeguk Warriors is an online community of Korean football/soccer supporters. We bring you news, analysis and opinion in English about Korean players abroad, youth players and the K League.